Blood Bond
by Songarri0125
Summary: After Sally sacrifices her life to save her dark lover, Shadow is left with a difficult decision: let her die, or give up a piece of himself to save her. Although Shadow wishes not to make the decision, he is left with little options...


The black hedgehog already had the dying chipmunk wrapped tightly in his grip. Soon, more mobians began to gathered closer together and be witnessed to the grueling event that just took place. As the crowd grew, tears of sorrow and pain were added to the cluster. They looked down at there lifeless leader with sad, but solemn expressions still lingering on there muzzles. Her auburn hair lay scattered across the icy ground, her clothes were battered and torn, and her body was shredded with scars that had yet to heal. The once proud ultimate life form gazed into the eyes of the woman he had grown fond of, only to see that they were growing darker with every second that passed.

"Sally!" Within a second,_ he_ had appeared before the pair.

His azure blue quills were left stained with blood and dirt, his tan-colored arms were bandaged, and a scar covered over his chest. The blue hedgehog looked at his dark counterpart-to his former lover-and back toward him; his shocked expression was replaced with dread and misery.

"Sal," Sonic ran toward the pair, only to have the dark hedgehog deny his wish. "Let her go, Shadow!"

He did not respond, nor did he look in his direction; all of his attention remained bound to the girl that lay in his arms.

"Let her go!" Sonic screamed.

This time, Sonic lunged toward the ultimate lifeform, but before he could even touch him he was greeted with a fist to the face courtesy from the black hedgehog. The blue hedgehog was swatted across the onlookers and sent flying onto the frozen asphalt. He stood back up and charged toward his rival with evil intentions speeding through his mind, but was stopped by a pair of strong grips. He glared at his accuser but was confronted by a pair of emerald green irises, similar to his own. The hedgehog was a pink female with long and elegant quills that stretched to her hips and covered the right side of her face. Her eyes were red from crying and few tears continued to fall.

"That's enough, Sonic," she whispered.

"Let go, Amy," Sonic growled.

The young hedgehog did not listen.

"Have there been enough fights without you trying to start another one," Amy went on. "Many hearts have already been broken today," she looked toward Shadow, who was still rocking the lifeless princess as though she was his own, before turning back to her beloved. "Please, leave them be." She begged.

Sonic stared at the two and back toward Amy before nodding in agreement. He remained by her side, but his eyes continued to monitor Shadow. In all the years the two had done battle with one another, never once had the blue blur ever seen his rival so broken up. The tears he saw did not lie; for the first time, Shadow was truly in pain. A mixture of pain and sympathy rose from the hedgehog's heart as he allowed a single tear to leave his eyes and fall onto the ground.

_How did this happen?_ Shadow thought to himself. He continued to cradle his beloved princess, ignoring pleads from the other mobians. Her face was growing cold, her skin was becoming paler, and her eyes continued to grow dark. The dark hedgehog looked at the fatal scar that pierced through her chest and more tears began to leave his eyes. He cursed himself for being so weak, as well as allowing this to happen; since the death of his first friend, Maria, the ultimate lifeform had vowed never to allow his heart to become attached to another person, and yet he went and allowed his heart to grow closer to the woman he had promised to protect; he had just repeated his previous actions from before.

Suddenly, a cough sounded from the dying girl as a spark of life returned to her eyes.

"Princess," Shadow pulled her closer to his face. More mobians came in closer, but did not dare touch the black hedgehog. "Princess, please wake up."

As he looked into her once lovely eyes, he cursed himself again for not being there to save her, but as she looked at him, her expression was that of love and care.

"It would appear," Sally rasped. "That_ I_ saved your life this time, around."

A weak smile appeared on the dark hedgehog's muzzle as he stroke the brown-tan chipmunk's face.

"Foolish woman," Shadow whispered. "I keep telling you to stay somewhere safe."

"You know me too well, Shadow," Sally smiled. "I'm just too stubborn for my own good."

Sally chuckled weakly to her companion before gritting her teeth in pain. More blood continued to ooze from the mortal wound where she was attacked. Shadow bit his lips in frustration as he continued to watch this torturous event. It infuriated him because he knew that Sally would die and there was nothing that could be done to save her-not him, Gaia, nor Chaos.

"This is my fault," Shadow tried to hold back the tears, but to no avail. More tears began to fall from his eyes and onto the chipmunk's face. "Please, forgive me for being there to save you." He sobbed.

When he opened his eyes, he felt the warm touch of a hand pressed gently on his face. He looked back at Sally and her smile radiated with bliss.

"You're here now, that's good," she whispered. "At least I get to see your face once more. I am really grateful to have you in my life, Shadow; it was really...lovely."

Before he could respond, he felt his lips pressed on to hers. As they continued their kiss all of their previous adventures returned: the day they first met, the day they had their first fight, the day they became friends, and the day they shared their first kiss. That and more returned as though it had all happened just yesterday. When Sally pulled her lips away, the nostalgic feeling disappeared. Shadow had returned to the present and was forced to face reality once more.

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog," Sally whispered one final time.

Shadow looked in shock and disbelief to see that it had happened. Her body had gone cold, her muzzle became ice cold, and her eyes were as black as coal. Any trace of life that remained inside of the girl was slowly, but without a doubt, evaporating from her. Sally Acorn was dead.

Shadow paid no attention to the sobs or wailings that passed through his ears. He cared not of their pity, nor did he care for their feelings. All he wanted was the life of the girl who had given him a meaning back. He pulled the lifeless corpse closer until their faces were resting near each other. No amount of nourishment could ever cure the pain he now felt. His heart was torn into pieces and the girl was gone.

He had lost everything all over again.

_No,_ Shadow thought desperately._ I won't lose her! I won't let it happen again!_ The black hedgehog thought desperately on a way to bring back his fallen love. An idea finally popped into his head as he remembered the words of his surrogate father, Black Doom:

_'We are more alike than we appear,'_ he said. _'The same blood runs through our very veins.'_

At that moment, Shadow had developed an epiphany: _Blood,_ he thought to himself. _That's it!_

The black hedgehog pressed his fingers to the chipmunk's throat for any signs of life. He expected not to sense anything, but miraculously he did: A pulse. It was faint and weak, but it was still good. The ultimate life form placed the chipmunk's head gently on the floor before looking into her eyes. They were as black as night, but still held on to a shed of light.

"Sally," Shadow whispered into her ears. "I'm going to try something and hopefully it will work. However, I'll need you to trust me, understand?"

The princess did not respond. Instead, she nodded her head in a weak gesture; she heard him. Immediately, Shadow held up his head and began searching the crowd for any signs of his teammates. He peered into the sympathetic group and caught sight of them: one was a female bat with snow white hair, blue eyeliner, emerald green eyes, and wore a black leather jumpsuit with a pink heart-chestplate. The other was a large mechanical robot with red and black markings, two greek markings on his shoulder-plates, and a pair of glowing irises.

_Rogue and Omega,_ Shadow willed them to look in his direction and, by some miracle, they found him. _Keep everyone away!_ He thought desperately.

They both cast an understanding look at their comrade and proceeded to move into position. Shadow looked back at his dying love and began his unorthodox method of saving her. He placed his hand under her head and brought her face close to his. Part of him would regret doing this to her, but at the moment, he didn't see any other way.

_I won't lose you. I won't!_

Shadow shut his eyes and imagined his teeth growing longer and sharper than they originally were. He felt his teeth with his tongue and surprisingly they were now as sharp as fangs. He opened his eyes and stared at the chipmunk's neck and sent a final prayer for forgiveness. With nothing left to do, Shadow took a deep breath and sunk his fangs into Sally's throat.

Ignoring the incoming screams from the crowd, Shadow continued to drain the remaining blood that circulated through his lover's veins. He peaked up to see many of the mobians trying forcibly to make their way through Omega and Rogue. Fortunately, the pair were able to hold them off, but the look of shock remained plastered onto their faces. Returning back to what he was doing, Shadow continue to drink from the chipmunk until she was almost without blood. When her blood supply was nearly gone, Shadow began coughing up red liquid that sprayed across the ground. It disgusted him that this was the only course of action he was forced to take, but he reminded him of what was at stake:_ For you, Sally._

With a quick glimpse from the other side, Shadow was almost surprised to see Sonic attempting to attack him, all the while, being fended off by Rogue. His quills spiked up in anger, smoke was burning under his feet, and his eyes were burning with rage; Shadow ignored the enraged hedgehog and went back to work; he didn't even bother to guess what the hedgehog was screaming at him; he already knew. Without any hesitation, Shadow bit his tongue down until it was wet with blood. He placed his fangs back into Sally's throat and licked his tongue onto her neck. He then imagined his blood flowing out of his tongue and onto the area where he bit her. At his command, all of his blood rushed toward his open wound and into Sally. At first, nothing seemed different, but after a minute his body grew weak and his strength began to deteroriate. He felt himself grow dizzy and was close to losing consciousness, but he willed himself to remain vigilant and focus. He cared not what would happen to him as long as Sally lived. He beckoned for his blood to come and they rushed from his mouth and into the princess. After what felt like centuries, the dark hedgehog had come to a stop. He retracted his fangs and lifted his head away from the girl, blood still dripping from his mouth. Without his knowledge, the entire mob , including Rogue and Omega, came to a stop and looked at the hedgehog in a state of shock and terror. Before the hedgehog could comprehend as to what they saw, he finally lost consciousness and passed out beside the girl who had saved his soul from misery.

"Shadow," a voice spoke to the hedgehog. "It's time to wake up."

Crimson irises returned to life as the ultimate life form found himself in a world of pure darkness. He became bewildered to see that his body radiated ghostly white instead of jet black-red. As he began to analyze the state he was in, he was confronted by another ghostly spirit: her hair was auburn red, her fur color was brown-tan, and her hair blazed sapphire blue. To his surprise, the shade smiled cheerfully to the black hedgehog as she stood closer to him.

"S-Sally..." Shadow stammered.

"Hello, Shadow," the princess greeted.

"What is this place?"

"I'm not sure," she said innocently. "But if I were to guess, we would be inside each other's subconscious."

"What?"

"I don't understand it either, but somehow I just know that's where we're at."

Shadow then turned his head toward the ground, defeat written across his muzzle. "Shadow," Sally said. The hedgehog did not respond. He shook his hands in frustration and his muzzle began to tremble.

"What's wrong?" 

"I failed you!" Shadow erupted with hot tears streaking down his muzzle. The chipmunk seemed surprised by the sudden rage, but he didn't care at the moment.

"I couldn't protect you as I originally promised. I couldn't save you from dying, and I couldn't even bring you back-It's all my fault!" More tears began to drip from the black hedgehog until he was unable to stop himself. All he could do was let all of his emotions flow before the girl he had come to love. "Please, forgive me!"

As more tears fell from his face as the once proud hedgehog began to fall apart. Suddenly, he felt the touch of two soft hands on his muzzle and they lifted his head up until his eyes met with Sally's. They showed no bitterness or ill-will, instead they glowed with understanding and kindness.

"There's no need to beat yourself up over small things, Shadow," Sally spoke. "You did the best you could and that's all that matters. Besides..."

Sally undid the strappling that covered her chest and theere it was! The hole that was originally there was now gone. Shadow looked to the girl for honesty and she shook her head.

"You didn't just save me, Shadow," she went on. "You transferred some of your blood into me. I can feel what you feel, understand what you're thinking; a part of you has become a part of me."

Shadow looked on at what the princess was explaining and was astonished to see that she understood everything that had happened, while he could barely make out the riddles she was saying.

"We've always had a bond, Shadow, but now it's different: we've become two halves of one being. I know it sounds strange, but I feel more connected to you than ever. I truly feel closer to you."

The princess took her lover's hand he suddenly felt his tears dry up and his body grew warm. In all his life he had never been struck by a woman of such beauty and grace-such a strong will and courageous heart. The only time he had seen a spark like that was from his sister, Maria. Shadow smiled at the thought Maria being like Sally. They may have been different beings, but they shared the same strong will and love that inspired him to be a protector to the weak. All because of them.

A moment later, the pair became enveloped in a veil of pure white and their bodies began to vanish. Shadow was about to retreat, but the soothing words of Sally kept him calm.

"Don't worry," she whispered. "When we return, we'll find ourselves in the hospital still unconscious, but we'll wake up soon; and try to ignore some of the glares everyone will give you, especially Sonic."

"Uuhhh...okay?"

"When you regain consciousness, come see me, okay?"

Sally held up a pinky and Shadow returned the affection with his pinky crossing hers.

"I promise," Shadow smiled. She returned the affection as well with a smile of her own.

Afterwards, a blinding light evaporated Shadow's sight and everyrthing went dark.


End file.
